


She Hangs Out

by GirlKnownSomewhere



Category: The Monkees (Band), The Monkees (TV)
Genre: 1960s, Arguing, Awkwardness, Band Fic, Cute, Drinking, Extramarital Affairs, F/M, Ficlet, Flirting, Fondling, Kissing, Making Out, One Shot, Partying, Romance, Sexual Harassment, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:08:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26049295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlKnownSomewhere/pseuds/GirlKnownSomewhere
Summary: What starts as a great day with Mike, turns into a terrible night with a new 'friend' for Jan.
Relationships: Mike Nesmith/Jan Freeman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	She Hangs Out

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet takes place directly following my previous one-shot 'I Looked Away,' but can also work on its own without reading the earlier story. This is also another fic that I clearly based on a famous movie, making it a lot of fun to write, heh. Happy reading 💖💘
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Monkees' brand or Jan Freeman's likeness

One-shot: She Hangs Out

Burbank, January 1967

Deep into the parking structure of the ScreenGems studio lot, Mike’s car sat far away from any studio employees, with both him and Jan inside the vehicle. The driver’s seat was pushed back as far as it could go, with the young lady straddling the music artist’s lap and both in the middle of making out heavily. Mike’s hands rested on her hips and would occasionally drift up her sides, while Jan’s hands sometimes roamed up and down his arms and shoulders. When he did a rather special trick with his tongue inside her mouth, she sighed and instinctively grinded forward. This caused a moan out of Mike, but only to pull away from the girl in what appeared as distraction.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized while they both breathed deeply from the separation. “I…” An annoyed sigh was exhaled. “Les and Don are such jackasses,” he muttered.

Jan then sighed herself. “You’re still thinking about that?” She asked referring to the in-studio blow-up she witnessed upfront two days ago.

“Yeah…It won’t stop running through my mind…” He revealed a little frustrated and ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, I can tell,” she lazily agreed and kneaded his shoulders. “I’m usually pretty good of a distraction on my own. Guess I’ll have to up my game,” she flippantly considered.

He glanced back to her with an apologetic grin and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Nothing wrong on your end.”

She just sported an unconvinced smirk with an arched brow.

“You’re not the one blocking me from making songs,” he reminded.

Jan nose crinkled a bit at the statement. “But they’re still getting recorded…isn’t that the most important thing?”

Mike appeared unamused at the comment, with Jan sensing that likely wasn’t the wisest thing to say. “But what do I know. I’m not the creative type as it is.”

That got the musician’s expression to soften. “Don’t sell yourself short. Those notebook drawings are more than just stick figures.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Well, how about I’m not the musical type then,” she modified while rubbing the top of his arms. “I’m not lyrically witty,” she added placing her lips on his chin. “Or melodically gifted,” with another kiss to his cheek. “Or devastatingly handsome,” another kiss to the side of his now present smile. “Or brilliant—oomph.” Suddenly Mike’s arms tightened around her waist and brought her forward with her mouth landing on his sloppily. Jan sighed blissfully and properly kissed him while embracing as he leaned closer. Her hand slowly ran down his side to the bottom of his shirt, while her mouth moved to lightly kiss along his jaw all the way up to his ear. The trail ended a few pecks back down the shell of his ear to softly take his earlobe between her lips. Her hand roamed underneath his shirt and brushed his skin. She heard a sharp inhale of breath when she whispered in his ear how sexy he was. Right when she kissed his lobe and raised her other hand to his hair, she let out a surprised squeal when he swiftly lifted her away from him for a deep, passionate liplock. She moaned into the kiss and went to wrap her arms around him again, but he chose to separate with having her rest on the end of his thighs.

“We should probably head over to the shindig soon,” Mike considered while placing a hand on her own thigh. 

Jan nodded and ran her hands through her hair while releasing a ‘phew’ sound with a satisfied grin, still flustered from the passion. It also wasn’t lost on her that she could feel how much he was enjoying the necking session while sitting on his lap. The ‘shindig’ he referred to was really just at a casual restaurant across the street from the studio where most of the Monkees cast and crew planned earlier in the day to meet on the fly. 

She straightened out her shirt and tossed her hair over her shoulders. “You want me to walk a few feet ahead of you when we get out?” She offered while grabbing her wool sweater from the seat next to them.

He thought about the suggestion for a moment. “Nah. Let’s do the work buddy thing this time.”

A big smile formed on her face. “Oh, groovy. I love being your ‘buddy,’” she agreed with a natural giggle. 

Mike grinned softly at her enthusiasm and cupped her cheek. “Man, you are the perfect blend of adorable and alluring.”

Jan’s eyes dilated slightly at the endearment as well as him holding her face. “Thanks…” she said almost breathlessly.

He pecked her lips one more time before she moved to leave his lap and sit in the front passenger seat. Mike slid the driver’s seat closer to the wheel again and turned on the engine. Once the vehicle was parked across the street, Jan hopped out and grabbed her purse from the backseat. Mike followed her lead and locked his car door while she waited for him. She found it amusing he kept his sunglasses on even after sunset. He smiled and strolled by her side before they carried on to the restaurant. While walking, they attempted completely friendly conversation, which wasn’t too hard for Mike. Jan on the other hand, was having trouble keeping the instinctively large grin off her face which clearly showed adoration. 

Once Mike opened the front door for her, the pair parted temporarily for each other’s regular gang of friends: Jan with Valerie and Roxanne, and Mike with either one of his bandmates or a band friend/crew member like David Pearl or Bill Martin. Jan also met a young man with sandy blonde hair named Ed at the gathering, whom she assumed she was unfamiliar with. But while conversing she discovered they had actually both worked on the set of “Bewitched,” with Ed as a gaffer. He happened to be pals with a couple of guys on the “Monkees” production team and was stopping by to say hey. Though ‘hey’ ended up being him sticking around just as long as the rest of the crowd.

After about thirty minutes, Mike and Jan found each other again and started a light chat at the wall in the back of the room. Jan held a ‘Shirley Temple’ and Mike a PBR. They talked pleasantly and seemingly innocently about the TV shoots and their interests until Jan brought up KRLA Beat reporter Rochelle Reed.

“Sounds like you’ve been hanging with Rochelle a lot lately,” Mike suddenly instigated.

Jan was a bit taken aback by the comment, mainly because she couldn’t tell the tone of his voice. “Well, sure. Why not? Rochelle’s cool.”

“Mmm, is she though?” He asked after a swig of his tall glass.

The brunette creased her brow in puzzlement. “I think so. She gets to meet and interview all the hippest stars in town.”

“Seems like she’s doing a lot more than interviewing them,” Mike suggested with a slight edge in his voice.

She took a second to reply, as she was still trying to configure why the musician might have an issue with her new friend. Knowing Mike, it could range anywhere from Rochelle working for the press to her being promiscuous. “Well…there’s nothing wrong with that, you know. A lot of people aren’t interested in going steady anymore,” she indicated.

He shrugged and chose not to answer vocally while taking a glimpse at the rest of the crowd.

Jan didn’t like the impression she was getting currently of her…more than friendly colleague. “You’re coming off…just a tiny bit misogynistic. Just so you know.” 

“How? I feel the same way about Peter and his personal life,” he reminded. “In fact I think he should break it off with Leah officially if he’s just going to keep stringing her along in between dates,” he concluded with another swig.

The young woman would usually be impressed with this opinion, but right now she was feeling a little defensive since Peter was a friend of hers too. “Well it’s still a bit hypocritical what with…um…you know.” She awkwardly motioned back-and-forth between him and herself.

Mike glanced down at her. “We’re not having sex,” he stated bluntly and calm enough to show he wasn’t worried about anyone in the room paying attention to their discussion.

“Yeah, I know, but…” Jan still wasn’t convinced, but clearly wasn’t going to be able to change his viewpoint. “Look, I don’t know if this is a personal thing you and Rochelle have against each other. But she and I have gotten to know each other lately and get along. I don’t want to be in an awkward position.” She claimed seriously, but in a soft tone to not make the conversation anymore uncomfortable.

Mike seemed to get the message and pushed himself off the wall he had himself propped up on. “Just looking out for you,” he assured calmly with a slight smile. “I don’t want anyone being a bad influence on you,” he revealed as he quickly stopped himself from reaching to touch her hair and subtly gripped his beer glass instead.

Jan found that reasoning a little odd, mostly because it sounded like something a parental figure would say. But then again, maybe he really did just mean well as he did appear to take his friendships seriously. “Well…Thanks,” she replied simply.

Right before Mike could speak again, Davy appeared. “Nez, your old lady’s searching for you,” he informed before pointing to the restaurant’s front desk phone. Mike thanked his co-star and gave Jan a brief smile before heading to the front of the room. A few moments later, Jan turned around to find Ed, the young man from before, right in front of her.

“Oh, hi,” she greeted with a friendly grin.

“Hey,” he responded with his own smile. “Cool party, huh?”

She shrugged contently. “More of a hang-out than a party. But yeah, I love being with the cast and crew.” She took a sip of her drink.

“Yeah, I’d love to get a gig on this set,” he agreed.

“Oh, you want to work on the show?” She asked intrigued.

“Sure. You know, this city runs on a project-by-project basis since the studio system collapsed,” he claimed.

“I suppose so,” she said before pondering for a moment. “I could try mentioning you next time I talk to someone from the studio,” she suggested casually.

“Thanks,” he appreciated. “But I am friends with a couple of crew guys already. That’s how I got here tonight,” he reminded with a slight wink.

“Ah, that’s right,” Jan recalled while at the same time tried to place the wink as flirtatious or just teasing.

Suddenly Mike reappeared which grabbed Jan’s attention. A smile grew as she noticed him walking toward her and Ed. “Hi again,” she greeted happily. 

“Hi…” he started after stopping in front of her. Jan could faintly tell from her sideview that Ed had slipped away and back into the crowd. “…I actually need to go,” Mike revealed. “I forgot the sitter was leaving an hour earlier than usual today. You think you can find another ride home?”

Jan covered up her disappointment with an understanding nod and smile. “Oh, sure. I’ll just tag along with Roxi and Micky on the way out,” she assured coolly.

“You sure?” He asked once more.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. That’s who I would’ve left with usually anyway, heh,” she reminded.

He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before parting. “See you tomorrow.”

She nodded and returned a tiny wave as he left the building. She leisurely looked around the rest of the room to see who was left. Valerie appeared to be chatting with one of the DPs from the series and rather enjoying the conversation. And from what her eyes found while roaming the location, Micky and Roxanne had already left for the night. She sighed before realizing Ed was still nearby. “Hey, Ed. Do you live near Venice?”

Twenty-five minutes later Jan was in the passenger seat of Ed’s pickup truck while he drove out of Burbank. The TV set extra pleasantly enjoyed the late night scenery of the city before breaking the mostly comfortable silence. “Well this came in handy. I’m glad we met today,” she stated with a grin as he turned out of the parking lot and made a left after the nearest stop light turned green.

“Yeah, me too. Though we kind of have met already,” Ed teased as he swerved into the middle lane. 

“Oh, true.” Jan remembered they previously worked on the same set in the past. “But it’s always nice to make a new friend is what I meant.”

“I dig that,” he concurred again. “And I don’t usually have friends who are girls.”

She crinkled her brow slightly at the peculiar response. “As a rule or…?”

“No, not really, I suppose,” he clarified. “I was trying to say you’re extra special,” he claimed casually and passed her a smile.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” was all she said for lack of anything else to add. Jan released an easy breath while turning to face the road again and noticed Ed was turning the vehicle over to the hillside rather than getting on the next freeway on ramp. “Oh, I live in Venice, you’re going near Topanga—”

“I know, I just need to tell you something,” he revealed.

“You can’t tell me while driving?” She asked puzzled before he randomly stopped the car in an empty parking lot next to a supermarket. “It’s kind of getting late…”

“Jan, come on,” he tossed with a chuckle and turned the engine off. 

She still wasn’t getting it. “What?” 

In only an instant she felt his arms wrapped around her and his lips on the corner of her mouth. “Ew, what are you doing?” She exclaimed while raising her arm to separate from him, confused and startled at the turn of events.

Ed wasn’t too bothered by the reaction and just said with a smirk, “Don’t act so surprised, Jan. You totally made a pass at me.”

“…When?” Jan asked while wracking her brain on how she could have possibly given off that impression.

“Back at the restaurant. When it was just the two of us.”

“You mean…when I was speaking to you like an ordinary person?” She asked not nearly convinced.

“You offered to help me get work on the ‘Monkees’ set. And before that you said it would be nice to chat if we saw each other on a ‘Bewitched’ episode again,” he recollected for her.

“That would be on the studio lot for work, which is the complete opposite location of a date,” she reminded him, now frustrated.

“Are you seeing anyone?” He continued to challenge.

“Well, no—”

“There, see—"

“But I am seriously interested in someone already,” she cut him off. “We’re not together—but we do like each other, and, I don’t know. It’s complicated—The point is I’m not attracted to you, Ed. Sorry,” she concluded sternly.

“I didn’t get that impression at the party,” Ed carried on amusedly.

“I was actually talking to him at the party,” Jan informed still serious.

“Who?...” He asked while trying to ponder who else she chatted with that night. “…Mike? The least available guy in the room?” He suggested with a sarcastic laugh.

The young woman immediately wished she had considered a more subtle answer to his instigating. “No, not Mike.”

“Who then? The only other guy I can remember you talking to was Davy—”

“Yeah, it’s Davy. You found my secret. I’m a big statistical cliché,” Jan fibbed hoping that would end the discussion. “Can we please get back on the road now?”

“Seriously? A hip chick like you wouldn’t be jonesing for Davy,” he claimed ignoring her request. “And I have a feeling you’re not exactly his type either.”

She sighed in irritation. “Even if I wasn’t already into someone else, I still wouldn’t think of you as anything other than platonic.”

He leaned closer toward her away from his seat. “You’re telling me you got into my car, after barely getting to know me, without intending to make it?”

“Yes. I literally only left with you for a ride home,” she insisted once again.

Rather than verbally reply to that, Ed placed his hand on her shoulder and tried to knead it. 

“Cut it out,” she persisted and swiped his hand away.

He let his hand drop in disappointment. “Alright…” But then discreetly attempted to hold her own hand instead. 

“No.” Before he could make another move, she rapidly grabbed her bag by her feet, opened her door and hopped out of the car.

Ed only appeared amused again at the reaction, not expecting her to go far with it being dark and late at night. “Jan, don’t be ridiculous,” he called over to her after rolling down the door window.

She ignored his comment and chose to move to the sidewalk instead. 

“We’re the only ones here. You could be waiting an hour for another car to drive by,” he considered as he slowly drove next to her.

“I’ll take that chance,” she claimed and kept walking.

“Trust me, you don’t want to carelessly get yourself in trouble,” he stressed.

She just snorted at the warning.

“Jan—”

“Go away,” she declared without thinking, though fully meaning it.

Ed suddenly turned his whole body to face the windshield and gave up the fight. “Okay,” he said plainly before zooming out of the lot and on to the street. 

Jan paused her route in surprise and watched him go off. “Hey, wait!” She irrelevantly called despite him clearly not hearing her and driving on back north. She really had no intention of staying in the car with him, but at the same time she didn’t exactly think of how else she could get home. “Shit…” Glancing around the apparent empty shopping center, she crossed her arms irritated and now a bit nervous. One because her wool sweater wasn’t going to be thick enough for the January night if she stayed outside long; and two because she wasn’t familiar with this current area of the canyons. 

After roughly a minute of looking around, Jan discovered a payphone in between a streetlight and a closed drugstore on the far right corner. While walking to the destination, she wondered who she could call. Mike was obviously out of the question, and she didn’t want to be a buzzkill for Roxanne, as she figured her friend was spending the night at Micky’s. Jan wasn’t sure if she wanted to explain her predicament to Valerie and she definitely didn’t want to talk about this to her parents. When she got to the phone, she grabbed the public phonebook and searched for the first name to pop in her head with the least likely chance of confrontation.

“Hello?” A friendly, male voice answered on the other end.

“Hi, Peter…It’s Jan from the set,” she began carefully.

“Hey, Jannie!” He responded merrily. “What can I do for you this fine night?”

“Um, I know it’s sort of late, but…” She slowly continued as she could faintly hear a feminine voice on the other end she assumed was Leah asking who was calling.

“No problem,” he reassured. “No parents, no bedtimes.”

“Yeah…I don’t want to bother you and Leah, especially since it’s a weeknight,” she hesitated again.

“Seriously, you’re fine,” he kept assuring, now amused. “What’s the worst you could be asking?”

“Well…I need kind of a big favor…”

“I don’t need to bail you out of jail, do I?” He asked with a pseudo-stern voice.

“Well, no…I need someone to pick me up,” she finally revealed. 

“Ah, I see,” Peter finally understood. “Where are you? Still at the restaurant?”

“No. I’m right outside Topanga Canyon,” she answered as she took a glimpse at her still desolate surrounding. 

She heard a surprised chuckle. “How’d you get over there? I thought you lived next to the beach.”

Jan released a tired sigh before her explanation. “I got a ride from someone I barely knew and he turned out to not be as nice as I thought he was. I acted rash and…now I’m stuck here alone.”

“That is unfortunate,” he concurred lightly. “Do you think you’ll be okay waiting another twenty minutes?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine,” she agreed. “Thank you, Peter.”

“Alright, we’ll be over ASAP,” he confirmed.

“Oh, you don’t have to bring Leah,” she quickly halted. “I don’t want this to be a hassle for her—”

“No, it’s actually not an issue,” Peter insisted. “She forgot her toothbrush at her place anyway, so we’ll just stop by there after we drop you off,” he explained.

“Well…if you really don’t mind…” She hesitated again.

“No problem. Just tell me as much detail as you can where you are.”

Jan gave him the two closest street signs she could see and the name of the supermarket behind her before hanging up the payphone and stepping outside the booth. While she waited for the couple to pick her up, her worry gradually switched to embarrassment. She couldn’t believe how foolish she was to assume nothing bad could happen from driving with a stranger. A couple of her friends had hitch-hiked in the past with no bad experiences, though Jan herself had never needed the option before. Now she was really hoping she would never have to confess this in the future for any unknown reason, especially to Mike. She was suddenly glad the songwriter left before her. 

On the ride home, Jan primarily kept to herself in the backseat of Peter’s GTO and listened to the couple chat. The two were in the middle of a discussion on Shaw’s **Pygmalion** , which Peter had convinced Leah to read, before the topics gradually progressed to marriage and even feminism. Jan tried to keep her attention on the exteriors from her passenger window when she would feel awkward noticing Peter try to dodge most of Leah’s comments on marriage by joking around. Acting invisible became even more difficult once Leah gave up on tact and began to show frustration with her boyfriend’s reluctance. Jan was relieved when they finally reached her condo and picked up her bag from the second back passenger seat as Peter momentarily parked. She gave as casual of a goodnight to Leah as she could, with the dark haired young woman returning the farewell sincerely. When Jan exited the car and began moving toward her front door, she noticed Peter jump out of the driver’s seat and follow her.

“Sorry, I couldn’t remember if you guys live together or not,” Jan confessed after she stopped walking.

“It’s alright. I’m glad you made it back alive,” he partially joked to lighten the mood.

“Yeah…” She lingered while remembering the unfortunate reason she even had to call Peter. “Well, anyways. Thanks again for picking me up. I appreciate it a lot.”

“Of course. This happens all the time, you know,” he assured suddenly. “You’re not the first one to get stuck with a bad ride home.”

The comment was genuine and did emotionally comfort her temporarily. But in the back of her mind, Jan started to think about Mike, and how this incident wouldn’t have even happened if they were a legitimate couple. She frowned at both the unpleasant reminder of reality and the fact that she let herself internally sulk over her wish never coming true. 

“Hey…”

Peter’s soft voice and hand gently touching her arm brought her out of her trance and focus on the musician in front of her. 

“Goodnight?” He suggested as a question to show he was offering more support if she needed it.

“Yeah, goodnight,” she confirmed with a small smile. 

“Don’t be afraid to reach out again,” he offered one more time before turning to get back into his vehicle. She nodded and waved as he opened the car door, and hoped the next time she did need his help would be less serious.


End file.
